Electricity market deep dive session information: EIR release

Information requested

(1.) All correspondence between SpAds and the First Minister's Private Office on the topic of the electricity market since 1st November 2023.

(2.) How many (if any) deep dive sessions on the electricity market have been held with the First Minister since 1st November 2023?

(3.) For each deep dive session on the electricity market which was held, please provide all briefing materials prepared for the First Minister, along with any notes/minutes recording what was discussed during the deep dive session, and a full list of who attended the session.

(4.) If no deep dive sessions on the electricity market with the First Minsiter have actually occurred since 1st November 2023, please provide any draft briefing materials prepared in relation to the possibility of such sessions.

Response

As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA. This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

I have attached copies of the information you have requested. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you requested because exemptions apply under regulation 10(4)(d) (Material in the course of completion, unfinished documents, or incomplete data); regulation 10(4)(e) (Internal communications) and; regulation 11(2) (personal data relating to a third party). Details on these exemptions can be found in Annex A.

In relation to your question “How many (if any) deep dive sessions on the electricity market have been held with the First Minister since 1st November 2023?” The answer is two deep dives have been held. Some information has been released pertaining to the deep dives, however, this is subject to limited exceptions as set out above.

Annex A – Reasons for not providing information

11(2) – personal data relating to a third party

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance an exception under Regulation 11, personal data, has been applied to some of the information requested. Information has been redacted under Regulation 11 (Personal Data), as it contains personal information and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and in Section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exception is not subject to the ‘public interest test’.

10(4)(d) - Material in the course of completion, unfinished documents, or incomplete data

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance an exception under Regulation 10(4)(d), material in the course of completion, has been applied to some of the information requested. An exception under regulation 10(4)(d) of the EIRs (unfinished or incomplete information) applies to some of the information you have requested because it is an unfinished document. This exception is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception.

We recognise that there is some public interest in release as part of open, transparent and accountable government. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in ensuring that unfinished or incomplete information is not disclosed when it might misinform the public or give a misleading impression of the Government’s view or position on the matter to which the information relates.

10(4)(e) - Internal communications

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance an exception under Regulation 10(4)(e), internal communication, has been applied to some of the information requested. This exception is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception.

We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. We recognise that there is some public interest in releasing the information as part of an open, transparent and accountable government. However, this is outweighed by the greater public interest in allowing Scottish Government officials and ministers a private space to share free and frank views for the purpose of deliberation of any given policy.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

EIR 202500465527 - Information released - Document

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